$15 million-plus district tax proposition too high

Monday, February 11, 2008 11:51 AM EST

Soon the voters of this district will have to make a very important decision regarding a $15 million-plus proposition. Ask yourself, do we need a $100,000 sound system? Can this district afford a half million dollar concession stand? Can we afford to build press boxes that cost more than the homes in which some of you live? Do you believe that this district is out of touch with reality when it comes to putting a budget together? All we hear is our taxes will only increase 10 to 20 dollars if we approve the expenditure. Is this the only increase the district will have or will we see another increase because of Boces? Or will we see another increase because of contract negotiations? Will Auburn's Superintendent and the Board tell us they will need to increase taxes because of increases in fuel and insurance? I'm sure they will, they do it every year. Will this be the only increase we taxpayers will be forced to swallow or will the city and the library and the county fol!
low suit?

In my humble opinion I believe that this project is way too expensive, we cannot afford the endless increases year after year with no end in sight. We can not afford to place the district even further in debt, right on the heels of last years proposition and the new Boces building. Auburn's Board of Education and its administrators does not even allow the taxpayers to catch their breath and pay off one proposition, before they place another one before us. I urge you to vote this proposition down send a message, enough is enough.

Jerry L Morgan Sr.

Auburn

The Citizens' Say

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There are 8 comment(s)

MISSEY1941 wrote on Feb 11, 2008 4:15 PM:

" tlb4
Are you willing to pay 3 to 4 million in 8 years to replace the turf? It will be more like $1000 per year added to the normal increase.If you are paying $2,500 now in school taxes, it will be $5,000 in 8 years, plus $1,000 for turf.
Add that to the ever increasing city and county tax and you are looking at $11,000 per year on a house assessed for $150,000.
We all know that the assessment will also increase, so the bill could be much higher.
Who can afford the increases?
A hundred here, a hundred there adds up to thousands, real quick.
Let's have a reality check and stop taxes by cutting down the budgets. "

tlb4 wrote on Feb 11, 2008 2:40 PM:

" No "unknown" I am not friends with anyone on the board or with any potential contractors. I am a forward thinking resident concerned for the future of our community. I have enough foresight and interest in our children( of which I have two graduates of the Auburn District)that I would very much like to continue improving our district facilities. Yes I am willing to pay an extra $10 a year for district improvements and $100 extra every decade to ensure our district's facilities stay safe,and energy effecient. Yes if the district can utilize State monies to help renovate Holland Stadium I am willing to pay extra for that as well. "

Unknown... wrote on Feb 10, 2008 2:48 PM:

" If this was voted down, then the money would go back into the big pile it came from. We don't need this pork barrel project now or in the future. Maybe the state needs to realize that we don't want to put money into this sort of thing, and the education of the kids is more important. Perhaps helping to fund the cost of tuition of state colleges could benefit from this money, and help stop the ever increasing cost of a college education, seeing how it's almost out of reach of a lot of people. "

Yikes wrote on Feb 10, 2008 2:06 PM:

" $15 million would certainly go a long way in upgrades and repairs to our schools. However, I'm concerned about the increased financial impact this proposal would have on our seniors. Let's take a close look using the figures provided by Bernard Donegan (the ASD's contracted financial expert) to examine the increased burden on our seniors.

Owners of a house assessed for $100,000 at full value with a senior STAR exemption would pay an estimated $8 more each year for the project. This would amount to an additional .67cents per month or .15 cents per week for our seniors. Does that number sound excessive?

My only point is that if district voters put this off, state funding may not be available in the future and it'll cost every district taxpayer a whole lot more at that time.

"

Unknown... wrote on Feb 10, 2008 1:15 PM:

" tbl777 must be friends with someone on the board, or maybe the contractors waiting to reap big profits?? "

tlb777 wrote on Feb 10, 2008 12:22 PM:

" Mr. Morgan please. You know the figures you presented, the ones that were floated to you from your BOE member buddy are not accurate representations of the costs of proposed work.The BOE will never allow a $500,000 concession stand. The Board refused that part of the proposal last time it was considered and will again this time. Your false information is getting very tiring. The press box barely meets fire code regulations but once again it will not cost the price of a home to bring up to date. However it would be nice to have field lighting that functions at better than 65% capacity like the current system. "

Bill Balyszak wrote on Feb 10, 2008 11:01 AM:

" How many times must the taxpayers get snookered by this Auburn School District before they wake up and smell the coffee and feel the pain? As part of the Peter, Paul & Mary song goes - "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind." I sure hope we get a hurricane soon because this out of control spending has got to stop and stop NOW! There is just no end to their insanity and lack of concern for the local taxpayers' property taxes. Vote NO on their latest $15+ million proposal and end this bs.

"

Hillbilly wrote on Feb 10, 2008 7:55 AM:

" Just SAY NO. "

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